This is the Super A’Can video game console.
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This is the Super A’Can video game console.
Never heard of it? That’s because it was released only in Taiwan, with a limited run in China. It was a massive flop.
This was a 16-bit console launched in 1995. The worst possible timing. The Saturn and PlayStation had just arrived, and in Taiwan especially, PCs were already pulling ahead. In the 90s, Taiwan was a global hub for PC hardware. Consoles were about to lose relevance fast.
The Super A’Can never had a chance.
It failed so badly that the company reportedly lost USD $7M in production costs. To stop the bleeding, they destroyed the manufacturing and development equipment and dumped the remaining units to the United States as scrap.
Only 12 games were officially released.
There were still a few standouts. The only console release of Sango Fighter. The RPG Super Light Saga – Dragon Force, if you could read Chinese. And the solid platformer Speedy Dragon.
What’s more interesting is what never shipped.
11 completed or near-completed games were cancelled. Demon Island was one of them. Even if you owned a Super A’Can, you never got to play it.
Funtech, the company behind the console, was a subsidiary of semiconductor giant UMC. After the failure, UMC pulled the plug. Funtech shut down in 1998, just 3 years after the Super A’Can launched.
-
This is the Super A’Can video game console.
Never heard of it? That’s because it was released only in Taiwan, with a limited run in China. It was a massive flop.
This was a 16-bit console launched in 1995. The worst possible timing. The Saturn and PlayStation had just arrived, and in Taiwan especially, PCs were already pulling ahead. In the 90s, Taiwan was a global hub for PC hardware. Consoles were about to lose relevance fast.
The Super A’Can never had a chance.
It failed so badly that the company reportedly lost USD $7M in production costs. To stop the bleeding, they destroyed the manufacturing and development equipment and dumped the remaining units to the United States as scrap.
Only 12 games were officially released.
There were still a few standouts. The only console release of Sango Fighter. The RPG Super Light Saga – Dragon Force, if you could read Chinese. And the solid platformer Speedy Dragon.
What’s more interesting is what never shipped.
11 completed or near-completed games were cancelled. Demon Island was one of them. Even if you owned a Super A’Can, you never got to play it.
Funtech, the company behind the console, was a subsidiary of semiconductor giant UMC. After the failure, UMC pulled the plug. Funtech shut down in 1998, just 3 years after the Super A’Can launched.
whoa! I’ve never heard of this one!
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whoa! I’ve never heard of this one!
Clive Thompson Super rare. Costs $1,000s on eBay.
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This is the Super A’Can video game console.
Never heard of it? That’s because it was released only in Taiwan, with a limited run in China. It was a massive flop.
This was a 16-bit console launched in 1995. The worst possible timing. The Saturn and PlayStation had just arrived, and in Taiwan especially, PCs were already pulling ahead. In the 90s, Taiwan was a global hub for PC hardware. Consoles were about to lose relevance fast.
The Super A’Can never had a chance.
It failed so badly that the company reportedly lost USD $7M in production costs. To stop the bleeding, they destroyed the manufacturing and development equipment and dumped the remaining units to the United States as scrap.
Only 12 games were officially released.
There were still a few standouts. The only console release of Sango Fighter. The RPG Super Light Saga – Dragon Force, if you could read Chinese. And the solid platformer Speedy Dragon.
What’s more interesting is what never shipped.
11 completed or near-completed games were cancelled. Demon Island was one of them. Even if you owned a Super A’Can, you never got to play it.
Funtech, the company behind the console, was a subsidiary of semiconductor giant UMC. After the failure, UMC pulled the plug. Funtech shut down in 1998, just 3 years after the Super A’Can launched.
@atomicpoet Neat. Never heard of this. Have you ever heard of the Mattel Hyperscan? Because if not, that’s a very similar wild ride.
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@atomicpoet Neat. Never heard of this. Have you ever heard of the Mattel Hyperscan? Because if not, that’s a very similar wild ride.
@helava Yeah, Hyperscan is fascinating. People tend to focus on the fact that it had underpowered specs or that it was Mattel’s foray back into the console market decades after the Intellivision.
But in many ways, it was ahead of its time. I mean, Amiibo is essentially the same thing. So Mattel’s core idea was validated in the end. -
@helava Yeah, Hyperscan is fascinating. People tend to focus on the fact that it had underpowered specs or that it was Mattel’s foray back into the console market decades after the Intellivision.
But in many ways, it was ahead of its time. I mean, Amiibo is essentially the same thing. So Mattel’s core idea was validated in the end.@atomicpoet core idea, sure. But it was less powerful than a GBA in the GameCube era, and the build quality and design of the hardware was *comically* atrocious.
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@atomicpoet core idea, sure. But it was less powerful than a GBA in the GameCube era, and the build quality and design of the hardware was *comically* atrocious.
@helava No argument from me. Even if it saw it selling at a thrift store, I’d never pick one up.
